Nevada women selected for agricultural business accelerator program

SPARKS—The Farm2Food Accelerator program kicked off this week with the inclusion of 11 Nevada women who run 10 Nevada agriculture-based food and beverage businesses. The five-month workforce development program is aimed at giving participants the tools and information to grow their businesses.

The development program is supported by the Nevada Department of Agriculture and National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and is specific to women.

 “The women selected come from all over the state, producing a variety of specialty crops used to make products such as jams, dried culinary herbs, mushroom jerky, hot sauce and wine,” said  NDA Director Jennifer Ott. “This program will support these women running small businesses to grow their operations, develop new business strategies and increase their chance of success.”  

Women participating in the program will connect with other women farmers and entrepreneurs, learn about food safety, product development and marketing, and launch a new value-added or enhanced product.

The Farm2Food Accelerator program participants are:

• Cortney Bloomer, Rural Health & Nutrition Initiative, Dayton, Nev. 
• Stacy Fisk, Fisk Farm Herbs, Fallon, Nev. 
• Teri & Megan Harasha, Jazi’s Greens, Carson City, Nev. 
• Lyndsey T. Langsdale, Reno Food Systems, Reno, Nev. 
• Crystal Leon, The Radish Hotel, Sparks, Nev. 
• Leslie Lotspeich, Lotspeich Family Farm, Deeth, Nev. 
• Eva Sara Luna, Desert Moon Farms, LLC, N. Las Vegas, Nev. 
• Sara Thomas, NO BS Farm, Fernley, Nev. 
• Evelynn Thompson, Zoot Poultry Company, Spring Creek, Nev. 
• Betsy L. Whipple, River Ranch Vineyard, Hiko, Nev. 

Two of the businesses included in the program also earned grants from the Rural Small Business Assistance Program in mid-October. Jazi’s Greens and Lotspeich Family Farm each earned $25,000 forgivable loans in exchange for participation in a 9-month online business training and mentoring program.

More information is online at https://www.f2faccelerator.org/nv-program.